Leaving Van Horn, we drove along the
wide open spaces of I20 to Pecos (pronounced
Peycuss) a small, dusty West Texas town amid working oil and natural gas fields.
Once set up at the RV park we
visited the West of Pecos Museum, it was originally the Orient Hotel and once “the
finest from Fort Worth to El Paso”. The
building is constructed of Pecos Valley Red Sandstone the saloon opened in 1896
and the hotel in 1907.
There is a replica of the old
saloon, along with brass plates on the floor showing where William Earheart and
John Denson were shot and killed by Barney Riggs. One of the brass plates is to the right of
this photograph.
Since 1907 hotel prices have
increased somewhat and I don’t know what sort of wine you’d get these days for
25 cents a gallon!
The museum also has exhibits of
towns that no either no longer exist or have just a few people living in
them. One of which, Toyah, we passed on
I20, once home to 5,000 people with 2 schools, several churches, 2 banks, over
17 saloons, 2 livery stables, an ice house and goodness knows what else, it’s
now home to only 115 people. A quilt in the
museum depicts what is left of the town.
Outside the museum is a replica of
the house of Judge Roy Bean, famously known as the Law West of the Pecos.
Around the corner is the grave of
Clay Allison, who according to legend, was a Confederate Spy and when captured
escaped by slipping his unusually small hands through the manacles. He was known as the “Gentleman” gunfighter because
it was said he never killed a man that didn’t need killing!
Cantaloupes grown in Pecos are
famous for their flavour, I believe the soil in the area makes them
particularly sweet. Unfortunately we
didn’t get to try them as the season doesn’t start until the summer.
Pecos is also the home of the world’s
first rodeo and a rodeo is held every year, usually during June.
